Belmar to discuss $10 hike in cost of seasonal beach badges

Belmar to discuss $10 hike in cost of seasonal beach badges

By ERIK LARSEN
COASTAL MONMOUTH BUREAU

A $10 increase in the cost of a seasonal beach badge, which if approved would raise the price to $60 this summer, is expected to be discussed in the agenda session of Wednesday's Borough Council meeting.

Borough Administrator Robbin D. Kirk said seasonal badges have been cutting into the sales of the $7 daily badge. The seasonal badge is more economical for any person who intends to make more than seven trips to the Belmar beach in a single summer.

"What we are finding is that with a lower priced seasonal badge, we are selling less dailies, which is really where the majority of your money comes from on the beach,'' Kirk said.

Council President Meredith Brennan said Mayor Kenneth E. Pringle's administration wants to increase the revenue in order to fund nighttime attendants at boardwalk lavatories, while raising wages and salaries for beachfront staff.

"We decided in the agenda session to raise our seasonal beach badge fee from $50 to $60,'' Brennan said at the April 9 council meeting. "The senior badge and the handicapped badge remains at $15 (for the season). We are still the lowest or as low as anyone along this whole strip. And it will actually help offset the cost of some of the night attendants and some of the other things we want to do.''

But the council decided to review its decision after a chorus of residents -- who stand to be perhaps the most impacted by the increase -- denounced the proposal.

"That's not fair to the young people,'' complained Connie Dellaportas of Main Street. "We are penalizing those young people. Let's stop.''

"I can understand your resentment to a point,'' said Councilwoman Claire Deicke. "At the same time, we are among the lowest (in fees) and we do want to maintain the beach to the best of our ability and everything goes up, as you know.''

Belmar is sensitive to such criticism. In 1989, the state Public Advocate sued Belmar over its daily beach badge fees, which were as high as $8 in the late 1980s. Adjusted for inflation, that would be more than $14 today, according to the Consumer Price Index.

The fees were struck down. The court's most significant ruling, that a town could not use beach badge revenue to offset property taxes -- which Belmar was doing in the 1980s -- and that a town had to create a dedicated beachfront utility fund for the revenue, had major consequences up and down the Jersey Shore.

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Are You using a refillable plastic water bottle on your Belmar boardwalks ? You might want to think twice

Nalgene to nix BPA bottles due to consumer concern


By BEN DOBBIN AP Business Writer
© 2008 The Associated Press

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Hard-plastic Nalgene water bottles made with bisphenol A will be pulled from stores over the next few months because of growing consumer concern over whether the chemical poses a health risk.

Nalge Nunc International, a division of Waltham, Mass.-based Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., said Friday it will substitute its Nalgene Outdoor line of polycarbonate plastic containers with BPA-free alternatives.

"We continue to believe that Nalgene products containing BPA are safe for their intended use," Steven Silverman, general manager of the Nalgene business, said in a statement. "However, our customers indicated they preferred BPA-free alternatives and we acted in response to those concerns."

With more than 6 million pounds produced in the United States each year, bisphenol A is found in dental sealants, baby bottles, the liners of food cans, CDs and DVDs, eyeglasses and hundreds of household goods.

The U.S. government's National Toxicology Program said this week that there is "some concern" about BPA from experiments on rats that linked the chemical to changes in behavior and the brain, early puberty and possibly precancerous changes in the prostate and breast. While such animal studies only provide "limited evidence" of risk, the draft report said a possible effect on humans "cannot be dismissed."

Highly durable and lightweight, resistant to stains and odors, and able to withstand extremes of hot and cold, screw-cap Nalgene bottles have been marketed as an environmentally responsible substitute for disposable water bottles.

The transparent reusable sports accessory is made at a factory in suburban Rochester that employs about 900 people.

Nalge Nunc was founded in 1949 by Rochester chemist Emanuel Goldberg. The lab-equipment supplier's product evolved in the 1970s after rumors spread about its scientists taking hardy lab vessels on weekend outings. That led the company to form a water-bottle consumer unit targeting Boy Scouts, hikers and campers.

In 2000, a new sports line of Nalgene-brand bottles offered in red, blue and yellow hues quickly became the rage in high schools and on college campuses.

Earlier this week, Wal-Mart Canada and other major retailers in Canada began removing BPA-based food-related products such as baby bottles and sipping cups from store shelves. Canadian health regulators were expected to announce the results of a preliminary review on BPA later Friday.

"I think the writing's on the wall for this chemical," said Aaron Freeman, policy director of Toronto-based Environmental Defence Canada. "You've got major retailers with huge market clout pulling BPA products ... and you've got consumers in droves who are opting for alternatives. They're a big late to the game, but they are responding to that consumer demand."

Citing multiple studies in the United States, Europe and Japan, the chemicals industry maintains that polycarbonate bottles contain little BPA and leach traces considered too low to harm humans.

But critics point to an influx of animal studies linking low doses to a wide variety of ailments _ from breast and prostate cancer, obesity and hyperactivity, to miscarriages and other reproductive failures.

An expert panel of 38 academic and government researchers who attended a National Institutes of Health-sponsored conference said in a study in August that "the potential for BPA to impact human health is a concern, and more research is clearly needed."




August 2007 report

Jury Still Out on BPA/Plastics Risk
What to Do While Scientists Study Risk From Plastic Baby Bottles, Other Sources
By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Medical NewsReviewed by Louise Chang, MDAug. 24, 2007 -- The jury is still out on whether there's a health risk from bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical that leaches from plastic baby bottles, food/beverage cans, and many other products.

Industry uses more than 6 billion pounds of BPA every year to make the resins that line food cans and the polycarbonate plastics used to make baby bottles and many, many other products. The CDC says that 95% of us carry measurable amounts of BPA in our blood.

Some scientists say there's reason to worry. They note that BPA acts like the sex hormone estrogen -- indeed, BPA was originally developed as a chemical estrogen. These researchers worry that BPA is behind hormone-linked trends in human health such as increased abnormal penis development in males, earlier sexual development in females, increases in neurodevelopmental diseases such as ADHD and autism, increased child obesity, decreased sperm count, and more breast and prostate cancers.

The plastics industry says there's nothing to worry about. Industry-funded studies by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis and the Gradient Corporation say there's not cause for alarm.

A scientific panel asked by the National Toxicology Program to settle the issue says there's "some" concern about neural and behavioral effects from BPA exposure in fetuses, infants, and children.

The panel found no major health risks. But there are serious questions about the panel's report -- and about its independence from industry (the contractor that prepared the panel's draft report was fired for apparent conflict of interest).

This fall, the National Toxicology Program is expected to issue a ruling on whether BPA is toxic. Until then, here's a summary of what is known -- and what you can do if you feel you're at risk.

Is BPA Really Risky?
There's no argument that at some level of exposure, BPA is toxic. BPA has a half-life in the human body of about six hours. But because we're continually exposed, nearly all of us have measurable blood levels of BPA.

Whether these levels are dangerous isn't known for sure. One problem is that BPA acts like a hormone. This means that low doses may have effects not seen at higher doses. This is a problem for traditional toxicology studies, which usually try to find a high-dose effect and lower the dose until that effect goes away.

Currently, the EPA says that the "safe" level of BPA is set at 50 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day. But animal studies suggest that this level of BPA has harmful effects, including genetic damage. Exactly how to translate these animal findings into human effects is a bone of contention between academic and industry scientists.

Nevertheless, BPA can flip the estrogen switches on cells at part-per-trillion concentrations -- lower concentrations than those common in the blood of human infants, children, and adults.

Rible to Hold Public Meeting to Oppose Sale of Sea Girt Training Center

Rible to Hold Public Meeting to Oppose Sale of Sea Girt Training Center
Media Advisory
Assemblyman Dave Rible will host a town meeting seeking public input on the possible monetization of the Sea Girt Training Facility. A presentation will be made to show the history of the site, the recreational and training uses, and the consequences of redevelopment. The meeting will be open to all members of the public. No advance registration is required and the goal will be to discuss the Governor's plan of selling off parts or all of this land and gather ideas to prevent this from taking place.
When: Tuesday, April 22, 2008, 7pm to 9pm
Where: Sea Girt Elementary School-451 Bell Place Sea Girt, NJ 08750
Who: Assemblyman Dave Rible, Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini, Senator Sean Kean, Assemblyman David Wolfe, Freeholder Director Lillian Burry, Sea Girt Mayor Mark Clemmenson, Manasquan Mayor George Dempsey, Manasquan Councilman Joe Lucas, and Ken Wandrak, retired State Police Captain and former National Guard Commander in Sea Girt. The mayors from the following towns have also been invited: Belmar, Lake Como, Spring Lake, Spring Lake Heights, Brielle, Manasquan, and Wall.

For more information please call the 11th District Legislative Office at 732-974-0400.

Belmar Nj

 

Belmar Party boats struggle with fuel prices and Fluke regulations

 
April 13, 2008
Fishing
Party Boats Struggle With a Double Threat
By TIM WACKER
Greenport, N.Y.

FROM the perspective of the party-boat business, Dave Brennan has had it pretty good.

His boat, the 90-foot Peconic Star II, is docked here 20 minutes from some of the area’s best summer flounder fishing, and the Long Island Rail Road stops well within cooler-carrying range of his 150-passenger boat.

So why, after some 20 years, is he thinking it might be time to get out of the business?

“It’s the fuel and the fishing regulations,” Mr. Brennan said. “Between the two of them, we’re going to have a rough season this year. There’s less time to go fishing, and it’s going to cost us a lot more when we do go.”

Party boats, a seaside staple, are under siege from Belmar, N.J., to Montauk Point, N.Y., say Mr. Brennan and others in the business. With diesel fuel prices bumping past $4 a gallon in both states and new federal limits on the most prized catch — summer flounder, or fluke — boat owners say it is getting too pricey to take people fishing.

“If things don’t change soon, there are going to be a lot of boats out of business,” said Capt. Paul Forsberg, owner of the Viking Fleet, five party boats and ferries based in Montauk.

Because of higher fuel costs, party boats this year are charging on average $40 to $70 a person for half-day, three-quarter-day or full-day fishing trips. That is up 10 to 20 percent over last year, when diesel fuel cost $2.50 to $3 a gallon, Mr. Brennan said. Boats can burn up to 50 gallons an hour.

Making matters worse this year, Mr. Brennan and Mr. Forsberg say, efforts to bolster the fluke population have made it harder to take legal fish home.

In New Jersey, a keeper summer flounder must be 18 inches, up one inch over last year and 1.5 inches since 2006. In New York, fluke must be 20.5 inches, up an inch over last year and 2.5 inches since 2006. New York’s fluke-fishing season has also been shortened by 16 days over last year.

Federal mandates to help fluke recover from overfishing prompted the restrictions. The stocks have rebounded, but not enough to meet federal limits. Now it is party boats that are becoming scarce, said Alan Shinn, owner of two boats in Belmar.

The number of party boats docked at the Belmar boat basin has dropped to six from nine in the past two years, Mr. Shinn said. He said he is thinking of selling one boat, the Royal Ms. Belmar, because it is losing money and he can charge only so much for a half-day of fishing.

“If we overprice things, it could price us right out of business,” he said. “People have to pay their bills, they don’t have to go fishing.”

This season does not look much brighter for commercial fishermen. Jim Lovgren, owner of a fishing boat and a member of the Point Pleasant Fishermen’s Dock Cooperative in New Jersey, said commercial fishermen were also suffering from government fishing restrictions and rising fuel prices.

“It’s costing us about $500 a day more this year than last to go fishing,” he said of fuel expenses.

Some relief may come in New York; efforts are under way in the State Legislature to give boat owners fuel tax rebates, said Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., Republican of Sag Harbor. The state tax on diesel is 28.9 cents a gallon. Such a rebate, which is available to boats in New Jersey, would cost New York about $2 million, Mr. Thiele said.

But, he said, the state economy could lose much more than that in revenue, since hotels, restaurants, bait shops and coffee shops would suffer if party boat fishermen stopped coming to town.

If that happens, Mr. Brennan said, there may be a new business coming in: boat sales.

“You know anybody who wants a 100-passenger boat?” he said with a half-serious tone. “I don’t know. I may be able to hang on this summer, but I know a lot of guys that are thinking of getting out.”